Spatio-temporal analysis of fish and their habitat: a case study on a highly degraded Swiss river system prior to extensive rehabilitation

Weber, Christine; Peter, Armin; Zanini, Flavio

doi:10.1007/s00027-007-0912-3

Cited by 26 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…1. Two systematic river channelizations between 1863 and 1894 and between 1930 and 1960 were undertaken; 91.6% of the main channel length were affected by the channelizations and the total length of the river shoreline was reduced from 414 to 251 km (Weber et al 2007). Despite these channelizations, recent floods in 1987, 1993 and 2000 identified several extensive portions of the river with inadequate flood protection.…”

Section: Description Of the Catchment Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydropeaking indicators for characterization of the Upper-Rhone River in Switzerland

2010

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River channelization and the construction of high-head storage schemes have been the basis of agricultural and socio-economic development in many alpine regions. One example is the Upper-Rhone River in Switzerland. The Upper-Rhone's morphology changed considerably between 1863 and 1960 as a result of two major channelizations and, from 1950 on, the construction of a large number of high-head storage hydropower schemes in the catchment. These modifications have brought large benefits to the local population, at the cost, however, of substantial disturbances in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems in and along the river. A primary factor behind these disturbances is the alteration of the natural flow regime, namely hydropeaking due to the operation of the high-head storage hydropower plants. For sustainable river-restoration projects on regulated rivers, scientists and engineers now widely accept the necessity of integrated management of the river. Different aspects such as river morphology, sediment management, water quality, temperature, and the naturally variable flow regime should be considered simultaneously. Mitigation of non-natural, subdaily flow fluctuations due to hydropeaking is a crucial step in restoring natural flow regimes, but is especially challenging due to the economic constraints such mitigation places upon hydropower plants. With the goal of addressing this challenge, this paper proposes three indicators to describe the flow regime of rivers in alpine catchments with and without high-head storage hydropower plants. The indicators quantify: (1) the seasonal distribution and transfer of water, (2) sub-daily flow fluctuations, and (3) the intensity and frequency of flow changes. Indicators are evaluated in a case study of the Upper-Rhone River for preand post-impact situations, and the benefit of a multipurpose project reducing hydropeaking on hydrologic conditions is quantified. Furthermore, the paper explores the possibility of using these indicators to link aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem well being to their hydrology.

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Section: Description Of the Catchment Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydropeaking indicators for characterization of the Upper-Rhone River in Switzerland

2010

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“…Freshwater flow regimes have been extensively regulated for energy production, irrigation, drinking water supply, navigation and flood protection (Bravard & Petts, 1996;Tockner & Stanford, 2002;Nilsson et al, 2005;Weber, Peter & Zanini, 2007;Hohensinner et al, 2011). Flow regime influences most ecological processes in streams, including the physical habitat of organisms and connectivity among different habitats, the key features of ecosystem functioning (Poff et al, 1997;Bunn & Arthington, 2002;White, Ondrackova & Reichard, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fish community dynamics (1985–2010) in multiple reaches of a large river subjected to flow restoration and other environmental changes

Daufresne¹,

Veslot²,

Capra³

et al. 2015

Freshwater Biology

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Summary To assess how climate warming, flow regulation and flow restoration affect community dynamics, we analysed long‐term (15–25 years) series of fish community data from four restored and two unrestored reaches of the Rhône River. Environmental variables (low and high flow hydraulics, temperature, sediment flushing operations) were measured in all reaches. Five of the reaches were bypassed by artificial channels, downstream from diversion dams whose construction finished in 1984. Minimum flows in four of these reaches were restored (i.e. increased by factors up to 10) between 2000 and 2006. We examined hypotheses concerning the inter‐annual response of fish community guilds and size structure to flow restoration, climate warming and dam completions. We also performed a principal component analysis (PCA) to explore observed community changes at the river scale (all reaches pooled). We used mixed‐effects linear models to infer potential environmental effects not included in our hypotheses. Our results indicated an inter‐annual effect of flow restoration in the two reaches where minimum flows were most modified (higher percentages of ‘midstream’ species preferring deep and fast water). They also revealed effects of climate warming in the two warmed reaches (higher percentages of southern and small individuals and higher total density). These effects were consistent with our hypotheses. In contrast, dam construction had no consistent effects across reaches. The first PCA axis indicated that the longitudinal organisation of fish communities at the river scale was unchanged, but independent inter‐annual effects of flow restoration and climate change were apparent along the second and third axes. Observed annual variations within sites were weakly related to annual variation in environmental variables. This may be due to the presence of long‐term or time‐lagged environmental effects and the difficulty of estimating community structure of large river fishes accurately enough for this kind of analysis. Fish community responses to flow restoration and other environmental changes may be consistent across multiple reaches when the degree of environmental change is taken into account. Our results support the effectiveness of flow restoration on communities of large rivers subjected to multiple environmental changes.

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“…Daneben führt auch die hydroelektrische Nutzung, insbesondere bei Stauhaltungen und Schwallbetrieb, zu extremen Abflussschwankungen und erhöht ebenfalls zeitweise die Fracht an Schwebstoffen und Sedimenten. In derartigen Strecken konnte eine signifikante Beeinträchtigung der Fischpopulationen festgestellt werden (Weber et al 2007). Auch Veränderungen in der land-und forstwirtschaftlichen Flächennutzung (z.…”

Section: Diskussion: Zusammenhang Zwischen Forellenrückgang Und Klimaunclassified

Klimawandel und Bachforellenrückgang – gibt es einen Zusammenhang? Resultate aus der Schweiz

Burkhardt‐Holm

2009

Environ Sci Eur

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Spatio-temporal analysis of fish and their habitat: a case study on a highly degraded Swiss river system prior to extensive rehabilitation

Cited by 26 publications

References 48 publications

Hydropeaking indicators for characterization of the Upper-Rhone River in Switzerland

Hydropeaking indicators for characterization of the Upper-Rhone River in Switzerland

Fish community dynamics (1985–2010) in multiple reaches of a large river subjected to flow restoration and other environmental changes

Klimawandel und Bachforellenrückgang – gibt es einen Zusammenhang? Resultate aus der Schweiz

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